The next week flew by unnoticed.
The young man and the girl enjoyed ordinary family life.
On the fifth day, Kenshin finished drawing the huge formation and relaxed a little, confident that the number of people wandering near his house would sharply decrease.
Aya’s belly had noticeably increased, and the newlyweds decided to temporarily stop having sex, but the girl from time to time gave Kenshin pleasure, relieving the accumulated tension.
Several times they went to the river, located a few kilometers from their dwelling, and had a wonderful time, enjoying the pristine beauty of nature and the solitude.
The young man built small fish traps on the river, spending half a day searching for engineering solutions to apply the necessary formation to the riverbed.
As a result, the newlyweds always had fresh and nutritious fish on the table.
Kenshin and Aya were sitting at the table, drinking coffee, and having a casual conversation.
“Kenshin, we’ve run out of tea, and we’re almost out of salt, and there’s little grain left… Maybe I should go to the auntie’s shop?” the girl asked, taking a sip of coffee.
“What?
No!
I’m not letting you go anywhere, especially to your home village.
I’ll go get the necessary things myself.” Kenshin said decisively, flatly refusing to let the girl out of the house.
“But… But why?
Is it because I’ve become fat and ugly?
Is that why you don’t love me anymore?” the girl sobbed, and started crying.
Kenshin got up from the table, hugged Aya, and pressed her to his chest: “Don’t talk nonsense, sweetheart.
I haven’t stopped loving you, it’s just that your home village is dangerous, and a pregnant woman shouldn’t travel long distances…” the young man whispered, kissing the girl on the back of the head.
“And what will happen when I get old and ugly… Will you forget about me altogether?” the girl wailed, refusing to calm down.
“God, what nonsense!
First of all, I won’t leave you.
And secondly — women only get better with age, like wine!” the young man said, and then it was as if he was struck by lightning.
“That’s it, wine!
Ha-ha-ha, yes, wine!” Kenshin suddenly burst out laughing, making Aya instantly calm down.
“What’s wrong with you, Kenshin?” the girl asked in surprise, her mood abruptly changing.
“I just figured out how we can get rich!” the young man proudly proclaimed, and kissed the girl’s lips, salty from tears.
“And how?” Aya asked with interest, unable to contain her curiosity.
“Accelerated aging!
You and I, girl, are going to age wine and sell it for big money!” Kenshin proudly declared.
“What?
But how?” the blue-eyed brunette asked again in surprise.
“With an aging formation, of course!
Well, the name is too grand, since this formation doesn’t age organic things, but it’s perfect for disposing of inorganic substances, from radioactive elements to caustic chemical solutions.
True, I can’t create such huge and powerful formations yet, but for our needs, my abilities will be more than enough!”
Aya froze in shock, thinking over everything he had said.
Kenshin had recently decided not to hide his formation-creating abilities, reasoning that even if Yamanaka Inoichi got into her mind, he would easily figure it all out.
The young man didn’t yet have formations protecting against mental scanning, but he planned to acquire them soon.
“Umm, okay, whatever you say.
Please bring me some salted fish!” Aya declared with a smile, completely forgetting how sad she had been a few minutes ago.
* * *
Kenshin spent several days preparing for his foray outside.
He studied the approximate location of the surrounding villages and several towns.
One of the planned towns was the city of Shukuba, which the young man intended to visit.
He took all the money Aya had been saving, hoping to move far away from the annoying Kaito.
In total, the young man had 2700 ryo on hand.
He had managed to find out the approximate prices in this world and knew that a kilogram of rice cost 20 ryo, and a kilogram of salt cost 400 ryo.
Loading his backpack with everything necessary, the young man kissed the girl and ordered her not to leave the dwelling unless absolutely necessary, then turned and walked off toward one of the villages, located fifteen kilometers southwest of his dwelling.
After about four hours, the young man reached a small village, asked a slovenly-looking old man with a red face for the location of the general store, and walked in the right direction.
In the general store, Kenshin struck up a conversation with a pleasant-looking woman of about forty, who was clearly starved for conversation.
From her words, he understood that the most “aged” and, coincidentally, most common wine was called “Samurai Blade,” costing 50 ryo per bottle.
Kenshin bought five bottles of wine and filled the remaining space in his bag with essential goods, spending a total of 700 ryo.
The shopkeeper gave him a 10% discount.
Kenshin, seeing the effect he was having on this woman, briefly thought about taking her into his harem, but immediately changed his mind.
A few days ago, he had already thought about seducing more girls and having a bunch of children, but all of that, in his opinion, was useless.
Children born from ordinary girls would be extremely weak, and in that way, he would condemn them to suffering.
Kenshin decided that the next girl in the harem should be a kunoichi, but he had no idea how to interest or seduce a woman trained to kill.
He had no illusions about the tenderness and kindness of the local kunoichi, and although in the “anime” most of them were like delicate flowers, he had already realized that reality was very different from what he had seen on the screen.
This world was much more brutal than what he had seen on his TV screen.
The young man thought it was all due to the focus on a children’s audience, and Masashi Kishimoto, knowing the history of this world, had hidden its bloodiness.
Kenshin had already heard enough stories from Aya about how Konoha shinobi could sometimes rape an ordinary girl and get away with it.
Sometimes they might be punished, but only disciplinarily.
The girl explained that for Konoha shinobi, all people outside the village were like cattle, not worthy of mention.
The young man, loaded to the brim, left the general store and headed for the village exit.
After walking a few kilometers, he sat down to rest and chose a spot for a cache.
Drawing a formation on the ground, he dropped his backpack and covered it with branches and leaves, then turned and headed toward the city of Shukuba, located ten kilometers from his current position.
After walking along the path through the forest for about an hour, he flinched in fright when four silhouettes raced over his head, leaping from tree to tree.
The four people didn’t even look in his direction, and all he could do was watch them go.
“A Konoha forehead protector?
Maybe they’re genin under a chunin’s command…
And that speed!
Thirty kilometers an hour, at least!” the young man thought, and shuddered, imagining the consequences of a fight with even the weakest of that group.